Adding a new internet connection, but not sharing it

[Grease Monk]

I am planning to get a dedicated internet connection for my room alone as the bandwidth of the existing connection we have is in constant use by our download rig and other members of the household.

I would like to maintain full file sharing access over the network and even continue to use the existing internet connection (in case my new connection experiences down time), however, I do not want to share the bandwidth afforded by my the new connection with the rest of the network. I was hoping to get some input on the best way to achieve this.

Please find an image below explaining my current network setup as well as what I am looking to achieve (if the Imageshack upload isn't there, refer to the image attached to this post).



Essentially, PC 4 is mine.

1. I'm planning to get a connection from YOU Broadband, and from what I could understand from the site, they provide a modem that has USB connectivity. Would this be the simplest means to connect it directly to my PC based on my requirements? Are there any settings in Windows (7) that I need to change to ensure that this connection is not shared?

2. In the event that USB connectivity is not possible, would getting another network card and connecting the modem directly to this be the next best option?

3. Is there any way for me to connect the modem to the router in my room and yet have it dedicated to my PC and, say, my phone? If so, what are the settings required to achieve this on the router? The router is a Netgear WNDR3700.

 

[Sei]

The easiest way to go about this would be to have 2 LAN cards in your PC and connect new modem to LAN CARD 1 and the LAN cable coming in from Router 1 to LAN CARD 2. Everything is ready as it is. Nothing else is required. If the newer internet line goes down, the internet would start working on this immediately. At max, you might have to disable the newer LAN connection but that will be it I guess.

 

[varkey]

If you have a Router 2 available, then just connect the new modem to the WAN port of the Router 2, assign an IP address in the same range as your existing network to Router 2, disable the DHCP server of Router 2. Assign the IP address of PC4 manually and set the gateway IP to that of Router 2.

Now you can switch between the two connections by just changing the IP of the gateway. By default all machines will be using the old internet connection as only Router 1 has DHCP enabled.

 

[boogeyman]

Answers to your questions below:

1. Modem with USB connectivity? Sounds more like a router with a USB port (Like ASUS NRTU13). I dont think you can attach a PC to it. Get it confirmed. If it does work, then you wouldn't need to do anything on windows 7 to "unshare" that connection. By default its not shared.

2. Yes, as far as simplicity and ease of management goes. You can even use the "route add" command to give your newer connection more preference and your existing one less preference. When the newer one goes down, traffic will automatically be sent over the older one.

3. Your modem may or may not have a USB port but it will most definitely have an Ethernet port. Connect that to the WAN port of your Netgear WNDR3700 router and use the Wi-Fi from that router. Setting up Wi-Fi is pretty simple on most routers. Ask here if you need help. Simply dont share the SSID and WPA key with the people you stay with, to have it dedicated to yourself

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Would suggest to get a router with full DD WRT compatibility and with broadcom chipset. Then use round robin dual WAN equalisation.

 

[Grease Monk]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

The easiest way to go about this would be to have 2 LAN cards in your PC and connect new modem to LAN CARD 1 and the LAN cable coming in from Router 1 to LAN CARD 2. Everything is ready as it is. Nothing else is required. If the newer internet line goes down, the internet would start working on this immediately. At max, you might have to disable the newer LAN connection but that will be it I guess.

Is it required that the new connection be connected to LAN Card 1? The reason I ask is that card 1 is gigabit ready as is other machines on the network making file transfers significantly faster. If I can connect the new modem to LAN Card 2, I can get away with just picking up a 10/100 card.

If you have a Router 2 available, then just connect the new modem to the WAN port of the Router 2, assign an IP address in the same range as your existing network to Router 2, disable the DHCP server of Router 2. Assign the IP address of PC4 manually and set the gateway IP to that of Router 2.

Now you can switch between the two connections by just changing the IP of the gateway. By default all machines will be using the old internet connection as only Router 1 has DHCP enabled.

Wow, I didn't know that about DHCP also being responsible for internet sharing. Supposing one of the other PC's (1 - 3) change their gateway to match Router 2's IP address, will they also be able to use the new connection?

Also, will the connection from Router 1 be linked into one of the regular LAN ports of Router 2 in your proposed setup?

Answers to your questions below:

1. Modem with USB connectivity? Sounds more like a router with a USB port (Like ASUS NRTU13). I dont think you can attach a PC to it. Get it confirmed. If it does work, then you wouldn't need to do anything on windows 7 to "unshare" that connection. By default its not shared.

2. Yes, as far as simplicity and ease of management goes. You can even use the "route add" command to give your newer connection more preference and your existing one less preference. When the newer one goes down, traffic will automatically be sent over the older one.

3. Your modem may or may not have a USB port but it will most definitely have an Ethernet port. Connect that to the WAN port of your Netgear WNDR3700 router and use the Wi-Fi from that router. Setting up Wi-Fi is pretty simple on most routers. Ask here if you need help. Simply dont share the SSID and WPA key with the people you stay with, to have it dedicated to yourself

1. Some modems definitely do come with USB connectivity (think old cable internet days). For reference, here is what YOU Telecom lists on their site: http://www.youbroadband.in/modemerrors/. USB seems to be the simplest option at this point. However, is there a requirement to 'tell' the PC which internet connection to give priority to in this case? i.e. does the ROUTE ADD command work with USB network devices?

2. Thanks, will check out the ROUTE ADD command.

3. Ha, ha! The entire point of the second router initially was to extend the range of wifi to the rest of the house. Don't think I can keep the SSID and WPA key to myself

 

[Crazy_Eddy]

Is it required that the new connection be connected to LAN Card 1? The reason I ask is that card 1 is gigabit ready as is other machines on the network making file transfers significantly faster. If I can connect the new modem to LAN Card 2, I can get away with just picking up a 10/100 card.

I think he labeled it card 1 and 2 for convenience. You can connect it any way you want. In any case, if your modem uses a USB connection you don't need to bother with a LAN card.

For connection priority, go to :

Network and Sharing Centre > (left bar) Change Adapter Settings > alt key for menu > Advanced > Advanced Settings > Adapters and Bindings tab.

Internet Connection Sharing is disabled by default, so nothing to do there either. But you can always cross-check from the Properties tab for your Network connection.

 

[deepakvrao]

AVOID You telecom. They STINK with regard to downtime. I have just given up after listening to their bullshit promises for 8 months.

 

[varkey]

Wow, I didn't know that about DHCP also being responsible for internet sharing. Supposing one of the other PC's (1 - 3) change their gateway to match Router 2's IP address, will they also be able to use the new connection?

Also, will the connection from Router 1 be linked into one of the regular LAN ports of Router 2 in your proposed setup?

Well, DHCP in this case automatically sets the gateway to Router 1 hence by default the old connection will be used unless you manually set the IP.

Yes, if PC (1-3) change the Gateway to Router 2, they will be able to use the new connection.

Yes, you can link Router 1 to Router 2 so that you have access your existing network as well and if necessary can access the old internet connection too.

Anyway in this solution, the new connection is not entirely isolated and the other PCs can use it if necessary but has to be configured manually. Otherwise by default all PCs will be using the old connection.

 

[puneetritehere]

see, in most simple way, the existing router you have is a wireless router??? then connect your comp. to it wirelessly. then connect the new modem via a LAN cable. then go to network connections and bridge both of these connections.. select both the connections, right click and select bridge.

i will recommend setting your own IP address instead of the router DHCP providing it to you. this way, theres no need to go through any procedure of not sharing the connection, as your new modem will be connected only to your pc via the cable, and because you're connected to the wireless network too, you will get seamless internet connectivity even if one network is down for some reason.

and rather if you're going for You broadband, i will recommend to scrap this whole process altogether. get a faster unlimited broadband plan, and keep half or more of the bandwidth reserved with yourself.

 

[Grease Monk]

@ ALL: Thanks once again for your suggestions\clarifications.

Regarding the choice of YOU Telecom, I have a friend who lives in the same neighborhood who reports that his connection is stable and the service guy for our area is very responsive when he had initial teething issues. Anyway, I'm open to alternatives other than Airtel. Our main connection is Airtel so it won't be a good backup connection to have, plus I'm not happy with the road they have been going down the past few years and don't want my money to encourage this behavior.